Doctoral knowledge-management programme practises what it preaches

The School of Human and Organisation Development at the Fielding Graduate Institute of Santa Barbara, California, US, has developed a doctoral programme incorporating the messy human, cultural and contextual processes with which KM practitioners work. The programme is called Information Society and Knowledge Organisations (ISAKO).

Alice MacGillivray, acting director of KM programmes at Royal Roads University, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, said, “One of the most striking things about the programme is the degree to which it models KM practices in faculty and student interactions. It is a very stimulating, collaborative and respectful environment in which considerable knowledge generation and sharing occurs.” MacGillivray has enrolled in the programme as a student.

ISAKO is intended for scholar-practitioners whose research interests and professional practices lie at the boundaries between organisational and social life, information and knowledge, and the technologies that support and mediate them.

Three specific elements of the programme help students to meet the knowledge-intensive, electronically interconnected challenges of the 21st century:

Collaborative research with other students, colleagues and faculty to develop skills and competencies for scholarship and research;
Integration of knowledge from a wide variety of fields and disciplines such as sociology, psychology, anthropology, management, information systems, social informatics, communities of practice, knowledge management, organisation studies, communication studies, and the social study of science and technology;
Enhanced professional competencies in organisational and social intervention, deliberate action, and effective consulting with regard to ISAKO issues through knowledge sharing and active participation in relevant professional associations.

The ISAKO environment differs considerably from the ‘teach-learn’ scenario still prevalent in academia. Students accepted in the programme are expected to bring a wealth of knowledge to the classroom beyond that provided by the professors. Faculty and students involved in the programme are thus both teachers and learners, and research is no longer considered a solitary sport.

For more information, visit www.fielding.edu/hod/concentrations.htm.